2 Germans arrested in Iran plead guilty: official

The two German nationals arrested in Tabriz have pled guilty to their charges,
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ramin Mehmanparast said on Tuesday.

The two German nationals, who had entered the country on tourist visas, were
arrested in Iran for trying to interview relatives of Sakineh Ashtiani without
having obtained journalistic credentials. Sakineh Ashtiani has been convicted of
adultery and murder.

It is obvious that they have committed a crime but the court should make the
final decision, Mehmanparast told a regular press briefing.

He also said Tehran has made it possible for the German embassy to have access
to the two nationals and a request by the detainees' parents to visit their
children is under examination.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Mehmanparast criticized the West for being nonchalant
about the recent terrorist attacks on two Iranian scientists.

"Western countries should be held accountable for the assassination of the
Iranian scientists," he said, adding their silence will further shock the world.

"Why do not Western countries condemn such terror acts and instead increase
support for terrorist groups and shelter them in their countries?" he asked in
an indirect reference to the presence of Mojahedin Khalq Organization members in
Europe.

He said the fact that the names of Iranian nuclear scientists are on the list of
UN resolutions can be a very worrying signal.

The spokesperson said the Iranian foreign minister would send a letter to the
foreign ministers of certain Western countries about the recent terrorist
attacks in Tehran.

The officials of these countries must clarify their position on the issue, he
stated.

Mehmanparast said Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed
Jalili discussed the issue with EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton during
their talks in Geneva on Monday.

On November 29, two prominent physicists were targeted by terrorists in two
separate bombings. Professor Majid Shahriari was killed and Professor Fereydoun
Abbasi Davani was injured in the attacks. The two academics were both on their
way to work at Shahid Beheshti University in northern Tehran when they were
attacked. The police say that in both incidents, terrorists riding motorcycles
attached magnetic bombs to the physicists' cars.